Poisoned goats used to kill Ranthambore tigers
TNN, Mar 9, 2010, 06.43am IST
JAIPUR: A day after two tiger cubs were found poisoned to death on the outskirts of Ranthambore National Park, forest officials arrested two persons for killing them. The accused have allegedly confessed to their crime.
According to officials, the two — Ram Khilari Gujjar and Mukesh Gujjar — are residents of nearby Bhowpur village and were arrested on Sunday night.
“The day after Holi, the tigers killed a goat belonging to the accused. This prompted the accused to set up a trap for killing the tigers,” said an official.
“The duo went to a place called Khandar and picked up some Aldrin, a powerful pesticide often used by people to commit suicide. They then coated a goat with the poison and tied it below a tree. Another was hoisted atop the tree after injecting it with the pesticide so that the smell of the cattle spreads and attracts the tigers,” he added.
Eventually, the tigers were drawn towards the goats and both died while feasting on them. However, forest officials are yet to recover the samples of the pesticide and syringes used for the purpose.
“We want to get these samples so that we can produce them as evidences in the court,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the forest department has begun chalking out steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. The plans would be submitted before the committee probing the killing of tigers.
